Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love openly admits that the playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers stayed with him throughout the offseason.
Love will have a chance to get some revenge this Sunday when the two teams face off again for the first time since the Packers lost 24-21 in the NFC divisional round last season after blowing a fourth-quarter lead.
“That’s what you’ve got to kind of just sit with all offseason, is going back, watching that game, trying to see what you could have done better, could have done differently in that game,” Love said Wednesday. “It definitely sits with you through the offseason, and obviously you move on. Just knowing that that’s the team that knocked us out, we’re definitely hungry for this game.”
In that game, Love threw two third-quarter touchdown passes, keeping Green Bay ahead 21-14 in the fourth quarter. Those two touchdowns to Bo Melton and Tucker Kraft came after a hot stretch where Love had thrown 21 touchdown passes with only one interception in the previous nine games.
But later in the third quarter, with the Packers facing third-and-11 from their 48-yard line, Dre Greenlaw intercepted a pass intended for Kraft. The 49ers used that possession to kick a field goal, cutting Green Bay’s lead to 21-17.
Then, after Christian McCaffrey’s 6-yard touchdown run put the 49ers ahead for good with just over a minute left, Love attempted a pass across his body while rolling right, but Greenlaw intercepted it again, ending the game for the Packers.
Love said he watched the game about three times during the offseason to analyze what went wrong, but he pointed out that it wasn’t more than he watched other Packers games from last season.
“No matter who it was, you’re going to sit and reflect on what you could have done better to get over that hump,” Love said.
Although the game on Sunday at Lambeau Field isn’t as high-stakes as last season’s playoff matchup, it still has a lot of significance for both teams.
San Francisco (5-5) is trying to get back into playoff contention after a 20-17 home loss to Seattle. The 49ers are in a three-way tie for second place in the NFC West, just one game behind Arizona.
The Packers (7-3) are looking to hold onto their playoff spot and improve their position in the NFC North standings, where they currently sit in third place, two games behind Detroit. Green Bay should have a healthier Love down the stretch.
Love missed two games in September due to a left knee injury and was sidelined for most of the second half of an Oct. 27 victory against Jacksonville with a groin strain. But he’s feeling much better now, as he showed in last Sunday’s game, where he went 13 of 17 for 261 yards, one touchdown pass, one touchdown run, and one interception in a 20-19 win over Chicago.
Love said Wednesday that he felt as mobile in the Bears game as he has since the first week of the season, when he hurt his knee during Green Bay’s opening loss to Philadelphia.
This could be important if Sunday’s game comes down to a final drive. If that happens, Love’s offseason reviews of the playoff loss might help him.
“The main takeaway is it sucks losing, obviously getting knocked out of the playoffs,” Love said. “There’s going to be things that we see, I think, plays that we’ll see, things that they did on defense that gave us fits and things that we did well. So just building on that for this week.”
